Tuesday Spotlight: FCCLA student looks for new opportunities

STRASBURG – A freshman at Strasburg High School has served as a state officer of Family, Career and Community Leaders of America over the last year and is ready for future opportunities.

Jana Bowman, 15, of Strasburg, is a freshman at Strasburg High School and served as a 2016-2017 state officer and vice president of community outreach for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.

As vice president of community outreach, she said she organized and advertised projects to chapters all over Virginia. She added that the most fun she has had in her role was when she was able to lead a community outreach workshop at the state conference where they made items that were donated to nursing homes, hospitals and first responders across the state.

When she was in sixth grade, her cousin was in FCCLA and Jana decided she wanted to join the organization. She discovered she had a passion for helping others, and gained leadership experience along the way.

“FCCLA has changed my life completely,” she said. “I’m such a curious person and FCCLA has really enriched that because I’ve gone to so many places and I’ve met so many different kinds of people.”

Jana added that traveling with the organization has been a lot of fun. She has visited Virginia Beach, San Diego, San Antonio and Orlando.

“I think it’s a really cool experience to have given that I’m so young,” she said.

For anyone considering joining the organization, she said to just do it.

“I honestly would not be the same person I am today without FCCLA,” she said.

Back in middle school, she was a shy girl who lacked confidence, but after joining the organization she said she learned to speak in front of large crowds. She has spoken with people from all over the state and gained new friendships.

In addition to her accomplishments in FCCLA, she said she is also a part of the Interact Club, Teen Advisory Board, fashion club, sports and will be dual enrolled at Lord Fairfax Community College next year.

She is also considering a Japanese exchange program that would allow her to visit Japan for four to six weeks in the summer and learn about their culture by living as a Japanese student.

“I have such an appreciation and curiosity about other cultures and I’ve never been outside the United States, which is something I really, really wanted to do,” she added.